The Trudeau Formula - Edmonton Book Launch

Join us for the Edmonton launch of The Trudeau Formula, with author Martin Lukacs in conversation with Crystal Lameman and Ricardo Acuña.

After a decade of Stephen Harper, the arrival of Justin Trudeau felt like a relief.

But as Canadians reckon with the gulf between the dazzling promise of Trudeau's election and the grim reality of his government, journalist Martin Lukacs makes the case that "real change" was never part of the agenda.

Drawing on investigative research and first-hand reporting, he reveals that behind the latest wave of Trudeaumania was a slick status-quo political machine, backed by a cast of corporate elites and lobbyists who expected a pay-off from Liberal rule in Ottawa.

Lukacs sheds light on a climate plan hatched in collaboration with Big Oil, the arming of a bloody Saudi war in Yemen, a reconciliation industry masking the ongoing theft of Indigenous lands, and the off-loading of public infrastructure to private profiteers—not a break from Harper, but a continuation of his destructive legacy.

Trudeau's much hyped new politics, the book documents, was in fact an Instagram-era spin on an old Liberal approach: playing to people's desire for far-reaching change in order to ward off a backlash against the Canadian elite.

But as the Trudeau formula unravels, Lukacs warns that right-wing scapegoating politicians are misdirecting this growing discontent with the established order. The only way to defeat the rise of an ugly right—and fulfill the hopes betrayed by Justin Trudeau—is an unapologetically bold response to inequality, racism, and climate breakdown.

In this election year and beyond, Lukacs argues it's time that Canada's progressive majority abandon the idea of saviours and renew the task of collectively winning the world we need.

About the author

Martin Lukacs is an investigative journalist who has covered Canadian politics for more than a decade. He has been an environmental writer for The Guardian, and was a co-author of the Leap Manifesto. He lives in Montréal.

Praise for The Trudeau Formula

“With meticulous reporting and clear-eyed analysis, Martin Lukacs has written a must-read that brilliantly maps the inner logic of the Trudeau years. He decodes how a progressive veneer is bound to an elite agenda, and in the process shows how Canada’s establishment operates when they think no one is watching.”
- Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine

“This rigorously researched book provides insights for all who wonder what happens between political grandstanding and meaningful action. It exposes how the illusions of change and impressions of leadership offered by Justin Trudeau have in fact protected vested interests. Martin Lukacs is a journalist I depend on to inform me about what is really going on.”
- David Suzuki, scientist and broadcaster

This is a free event. Copies of The Trudeau Formula will be available for purchase for the discounted price of $20.

For more information or to order the book, visit trudeauformula.com.